Ornamental fabric



April 23, 1935,

J. FRANK OHNAMENTAL FABRIC Filed Feb. l 1953 Patented Apr. 23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ORNADIENTAL FABRIC Morris J. Frank, New York, N. Y., assignor to Frank Associates, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York My invention relates to a new and improved ornamental fabric. One of the objects of my invention is to provide an ornamental fabric which shall be suitable for many uses, such as the manufacture of millinery trimmings and the like.

Another object of my invention is to produce an ornamental fabric which includes surface material made of lustrous cellulose material which is preferably light-permeable and which is preferably transparent. Material of such cellulose derivatives has been well known for many years under various trade marks, such as Cellophane, Visca, etc., and material of this general type is described in Technology of Cellulose Esters by Worden, vol. 1, part 4', pages 3075 and 3076.

Another object of my invention is to provide an ornamental fabric having a base, which is either woven or knitted, said base being preferably formed of ordinary thread and having projecting thread portions of said lustrous material.

Another object of my invention is to provide a material of this type which shall have a rough but lustrous surface appearance and feel.

Other objects of my invention will be set forth in the following description and drawing which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, itbeing understood that the above general statement of the objects of my invention is intended merely to generally explain the same and not to limit it in anymanner.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation, the loops being greatly exaggerated in order to clearly illustrate the invention.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view.

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view which approximates the actual construction of the fabric.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the base of the fabric comprises filler threads I and warp threads ,2. In addition to the warp threads 2, the base of the fabric is also provided with additional warp threads 3. The Weave between the special warp threads 3 and the filler threads I is looser than F the weave between the filler threads I and the warp threads 2. That is, the weave between the filler threads I and the warp threads 2 is avery close weave, because each of the warp threads 2 IS in effect associated with one of the filler threads r l. Each of the supplemental warp threads 3 crosses two or more of the filler threads.

As Shown in 2, the warp threads 2 and 3 are arranged in sets of four, the set which is at the bottom of Fig. 2 being incompletely repred sented. I

threads I and 2. However, the ribbons R could As shown at the top of Fig. 2, and in the middle part of Fig: 2, each said set or series of warp threads comprises outer threads 3 and intermediate threads 2. Between the adjacent pairs of warp threads 3, there are superimposed ribbons 5 R- which are made of said transparent material. The edges of each ribbon R overlie and abut the edges of the associated warp threads 3. Otherwise, there are no warp threads intermediate the edges of the ribbons R, so that each of said rib- 10 bons is substantially supported upon the edges of a pair of warp threads;

As shown in Fig. 1, the ribbons R form upstanding loops, each said loop being associated with two of the filler threads I. Each of the ribbons R 15 therefore follows a pair of associated warp threads 3, save that the loops of the ribbons R extend above the loops of the warp threads 3, so that the face of the fabric is ornamented by the loops of the ribbons R The threads I 2 and 3 can be made of any suitable material, textile, or non-textile. Such threads I, 2 and 3 may be made of silk (natural or artificial), cotton, or the'like.

I do not wish to be limited to a fabric havin the base construction described herein, because the warp threads may be all of the same type and interwoven with the filler threads in the same manner, and the warp threads may be arranged in sets of any desired number. Likewise, there 30 may be warp threads underneath the ribbons R.

While I do not wish to be limited to the particular example given herein, the filler threads may be 20/22/4 thread or 13/15/6 thread crepe denier, and there may be 105 filler threads per 35 inch. The warp threads 2 may be 20/22/2 thread crepe denier and the warp threads 3 may be 20/22/2 thread crepe denier. The warp threads 2 and 3 are close to each other so as to provide a tight weave. Each ribbon R may have a width of inch, and the height of the loop of each ribbon R, above the base of the fabric, may be variable.

By suitably widely spacing the loops of the ribbons R, in the direction of the warp threads, a beaded effect can be secured. The respective ribbons R can be interwoven in different ways with the base of the fabric, so as to produce ornamental effects of any desired type.

As shown in the drawing, the ribbons R are wider than the spacing of the warp threads which are adjacent the edges of said ribbons. Since the ribbons R are preferably transparent and colorless, the fabric has the general color of the While I have specified a preferred method of.

manufacture, the claims for the article are not to be limited to any method of manufacture.

The ribbons R may be generically referred to as "warp members" since they constitute part of the warp of the fabric. The ribbons R are wider and thinner than either the-warp or filler threads.

While I have shown groups of four warp threads intermediate the ribbons R, the invention is not to be limited to the use of groups having any specified number.

I have shown a preferred embodiment of myinvention, but it is clear that numerous changes and omissions could be made without departing from its spirit.

I claim:

1. An ornamental fabric comprising fabric warp threads which are interwoven with fabric filler threads, said warp threads being arranged in groups which are spaced from each other, ornamental warp members located intermediate said groups, the edges of said ornamental wa :p members overlying and abutting the adjacent warp threads, said ornamental warp members having upstanding loops which project above the base of the fabric, said ornamental warp members being made of lustrous and light-permeable cellulose material.

2. An ornamental fabric having a base portion,

said base portion comprising filler threads and spaced warp threads, and ornamental warp members made of light-permeable cellulose material and having loops which project above said base portion, said ornamental warp members having their edges abutting andoverlying adjacent warp thread of the base, said ornamental warp members being interwoven with the filler threads and bridging the spaces between the warp threads.

3. An ornamental fabric having a base portion, said base portion comprising filler threads and spaced warp threads, and ornamental warp members made of light-permeable cellulose material and having loops which project above said base portion, said ornamental warp members having their edges abutting and overlying adjacent warp threads of the base, said ornamental warp members being interwoven with the filler threads and bridging the spaces between the warp threads, said loops respectively overlying groups of the filler threads.

4. An ornamental fabric having a base portion, said base portion comprising filler threads and warp threads, said base portion also comprising supplemental warp threads which are more loosely interwoven with said filler th eads than the first mentioned warp threads, sjid supplemental warp threads being spaced from each other, and ornamental warp members whose edges overlie and abut said supplemental warp threads,

said ornamental warp members being made of light-permeable cellulose material and having upstanding loops, the said base portion being substantially free from warp threads under said ornamental warp members, said ornamental warp membersbeing' spaced from each other, the width of, an ornamental warp member being greater than the space between a pair of said ornamental warp members. I

MORRIS J. FRANK. 

